Drug trafficking and politics in indigenous territory. Resistance between the Tsotziles and Tseltales in Chiapas – Mexico

Abstract

Introduction: various human groups have been trapped by the networks of narcopolitics. Many ethnic communities, products of marginalization and systematic discrimination from colonial times to the present, have been co-opted by drug traffickers for their benefit. Objective: analyze the role that indigenous communities have played in the interdependencies between drug traffickers and politicians, in the territories of the Tsotsiles and the Tseltales of the Altos de Chiapas – Mexico. Methodology: carries out a qualitative investigative and exploratory type, which includes technical observation of the participants, unstructured interviews with inhabitants of the area and review of secondary sources. The analysis considers elements of the discourse and is present in historical sequence. The study was based on the theory of resource dependence, recognizing different strategies for resistance. Conclusions: the communities studied have managed to remain distant from the power of drug traffickers. On the one hand, through the strategy of stealthy transfer to municipalities adjacent to where the cartels have begun to have a presence. And second, social cohesion was achieved due to a strong system of political positions, which prevents members of organizations that compete for scarce resources from reaching high levels of the administrative hierarchy of the communities.